Edgerunners

Hank's Prelude

Hank's on the edge

17

OCT/12

The target I was hired to hit was named Asyah binti Musa. Some big time business person that pissed off the wrong people I guess.

I was given information on her location in the office and her guards patrol schedule. I knew this wouldn’t be too hard, considering these people don’t expect some midget assassin to fly in there. They never do…

Using the security card and codes given to me I was able to access through the entrance I was given intel on. Everything is as my contact said when I entered the building. Unguarded, the back entrance and stairwell only had cameras up to the target floor. The employer gave a guarantee that all the cameras would either be off or recognize an IFF code I had received and mark me as non-existent in the system.

I reached the target floor. Thinking to myself that it had been a while since I had taken a life. This time I was doing it for money, for myself. I knew I was ready for it; it wouldn’t be much different than taking out scores of rednecks like I did in Texas.

Before entering the first door, I set off the comm scrambler that was given to me by my employer. They said it would shut down communications for the targets guards while I operate. With a knife drawn, I entered the door and the first guard was only a couple of feet away from the door, right on time. I stabbed the unarmored part of his thigh. He dropped, in pain. I pulled his head back and slit his throat. His life ended with a gurgle, drowning in his own blood.

Now I knew it was time to move fast; on to the next guard just down the hall. I had to reach him before he was within ears reach of his next check point. I climbed onto a raised planter the guard was going to pass by and waited against the wall where he could not see me. I jumped on his back and plunged the knife deep into his neck, and heard the crunch of a severed spine. The guard dropped without a sound and I took his card.

The next one was going to be a little more tricky, because he was facing out and had his back to a wall. Taking one of the smoke grenades I had acquired for this mission, I rolled it into his field of vision. I ran up the second it went off and could hear the guard try futilely to alert others. He was too flustered to realize I was there when I stabbed his leg and disarmed his weapon. This one tried to fight back but didn’t expect that he was grabbing for was the end of my knife. I pulled back and cut his hand in two before I slammed the end of my blade into his face then armpit. He fell to the floor lifeless.

The next guard was going to be in a closed room just past this one, in a security room. I took the security card from the dead guard and entered the room, undetected. The guard sat in the camera room chair unaware I was going to end his life. Sitting down gave me easy reach to his head and neck. I chose to stab him in the brain from the back of the helmet, ensuring a quick kill. I proceeded to upload the program given to me by my employer. I was told it would continue to delay and feed false information to the security system on a deeper level.
From here I was to follow a path of low security until I reached the target area where there would be heavier resistance. I moved as fast as I could, so not to waste any time in case the bodies I left behind were found and an alert was put out in another form.

This is it. I am where the action is going to get heavy. I pulled out my 2 Urban-Foxes then proceeded to the target. Before entering the door to the target I went over the escape plan in my head again. There was supposed to be a ventilation shaft in the targets’ office that would lead to the outside of the building, and there was supposed to be enough cover to handle my escape undetected. Luckily I am small enough to use that route.

I entered the door to the hallway. There were 2 more guards in front of the target, a little more heavily armed and armored. Nothing my Fox’ and some bullets to the brain couldn’t handle. They both started to look over at me only to see me skillfully place a shot to both of their skulls and they fell without a fight. I ran up to the door and used the key card, then threw in a grenade to clear the entrance of the room. Once the explosion cleared I entered to make sure the target was dead.

I entered the room where my target was to be waiting, but found another body instead, still breathing. This was a female but not the one I was sent to kill. What was worse is there was no ventilation shaft for my escape. Fuck, did I do something wrong…I reviewed the info I was given for my assignment and I followed the plan correctly. Was I given incorrect information… It didn’t matter. This job was obviously a bust now and I either needed to get out or find the actual target. Knowing this is one of my last chances to get a large payout, I was just going to go for the gold. These urban pussies are no match for a hardened desert warrior. After all I still have 2 full clips and only one round out of each gun.

The “target” was still alive and conscious. It was time to get some answers on where my actual target is. "Are you still there?” I asked the awake and injured woman. She said in pain “Why are you doing this, I will pay you double”. “Shut up!” I said, “I need to know where Asyah binti Musa’s office is and I will let you live”. “Ok, just don’t kill me, she is in office # on floor #”, she whimpered. “Show me”, I pulled up a digital map on HUD. She marked the location and I pulled my knife and slit her throat.

It was time to finish this and get the fuck out of here. I am going to have a small talk with my informant about the “information” I received. I knew there was going to be a large force that would respond to the grenade, so I needed to hide and reassess the situation before moving on. I shot the window out to create a ruse, to make the approaching force think that was my escape route. I then quickly proceeded to the room a little way down the hall on the path to my actual target. I activated my terahertz radar to get a view of the forces that came to investigate the situation and waited until I saw them all enter the room before proceeding to the new target area. Thankfully most of the local forces were occupied with the chaos I already caused.

I moved to the target area mostly unhindered. I ran into some really heavily armed guards. They definitely looked like guards that would protect an important target. Heavy armor and weapons. I know I needed to do this fast because the low and unarmored cover in the area would make their load out a problem. I made sure to place a couple of rounds in to their heads. Better safe than sorry when dealing with guards that are wearing as much armor as a tank. The moment I took them down, I was fired upon. I was just barely missed, I guess they are not used to firing on someone my size, lucky me.

I had one more smoke grenade. I dropped it and ducked into the room they were guarding. It was time to use it and turn on the terahertz radar again to see how many there were. Fuck, there were 3 with firing solutions if I tried to run and 8 on approach. I needed to figure out my way out of this situation. The room I was in was another guard room. It wasn’t occupied, and there was a metal counter I could use as cover I decided to hide behind. Then I hear a voice from my radio…

“Mr Diggler, it seems you’ve been quite busy.” , said the voice on the com.

I was confused, “Who is, how did you get this encrypted channel?” I said.

“Mr. Diggler, you know you are outnumbered and you know will not leave this building alive if you try to fight your way out from here. I want to make you an offer. If you surrender, I will let you live and leave here unharmed.” Calmly proclaimed the voice on the com.

“Why would you offer to let me live after blowing up your building and killing your employees?” I stated, still confused and in shock from this interaction.

“Simple,” the voice on the com seemed to say with almost a smile “you are of more use to me alive then dead.” “Of use to you?” I exclaimed, still lost. “How are we doing this?”

“Place your weapons near the door and lay face down to be secured. Your arms will be returned to you once you are removed from this area and I have had the chance to speak with you in private.” The voice over the com said with confidence.

I did as the voice over the com said. I placed my weapons near the door and laid on the floor, then stated “Ok. I am ready”

The guards came in and picked up my equipment, frisked me and cuffed me. They were rough, that was expected considering I most likely just iced some of their buddies. I heard one of them say “How the fuck did this little shit kill James and Brent”. A smile crossed my face, knowing they never expect it from someone like me.

I was carried by 2 of the guards and sat down in a small closed off and empty room. "Mr. Diggler. You have broken into my facility and killed MY men. Do you know what they were worth? How that will affect the life insurance policies of my other guards? I won’t go into the details, but you’ve accrued quite a debt. However, considering your talents, I’m willing to extend you an offer.”

“What do you want?” I said begrudgingly.

“I’m not one to waste resources – instead of repaying me monetarily (check spelling) you can work your debt off in other ways. “Do me a solid”, I believe is how they say it on the streets."
Knowing I was not in the best situation, I accepted the terms given to me. At the time the terms didn’t seem so bad. I just needed to be someone’s bodyguard…